Jia.xyz – GoDaddy customer – (United States)
The .xyz community is home to financial services and developers launching innovative decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms and cryptocurrency solutions. Tech startup Tribes.xyz is developing a decentralized communication protocol and a crypto-native app for crypto communities, creators, and DAOs. Fintech company Gennius.xyz is dedicated to elevating digital engagement and loyalty. Crypto-focused company Alongside.xyz is aimed at helping investors diversify their portfolios. In this week’s #BlockchainThursday, we’ll introduce you to a fintech platform aimed at financial inclusion in emerging markets: Jia.xyz.
Jia.xyz is the online home of Jia, a fintech platform that aims to provide accessible and rewarding financing solutions to micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in emerging markets. By leveraging blockchain technology, Jia seeks to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses and create wealth within their communities. As reported in May 2023, Jia secured $4.3 million in equity funding, along with an additional $1 million committed for on-chain liquidity through a partnership with Huma Finance, a decentralized finance protocol. The funding round, led by early-stage consumer crypto fund TCG Crypto, included participation from investment firms like BlockTower Capital and Hashed Emergent.1
In some developing countries, small businesses can face a difficult time acquiring affordable loans from banks. Sometimes they resort to borrowing from local lenders who may charge high interest rates. Although mobile lending apps have made it easier to get loans, they may only offer small amounts of money. This leaves a big gap because many small businesses need larger loans to grow and buy supplies. Jia aims to fill this gap by providing bigger loans that help small businesses expand and buy what they need.
Jia implements advanced technology to assess borrowers and provide funds through global investor-backed pools. When borrowers repay their loans, they receive token rewards that give them a share in Jia’s long-term growth. Local partners who co-sign for borrowers can also receive token rewards and yields. These token incentives can include:
The fintech platform is designed to support entrepreneurs across a variety of industries such as healthcare, education, retail, and restaurants. Through strategic partnerships, Jia offers business owners access to affordable financing that can drive their growth and safeguard their profits. By showcasing the potential of blockchain technology, Jia contributes to advancing financial inclusion and creating substantial economic opportunities.
Jia’s founding team comprises Zach Marks, Cheng Cheng, Ivan Orone, and Yuting Wang. This team previously worked together at fintech startup Tala, a company that experienced significant growth in its user base. At Tala, they recognized the need to transform the borrower-lender relationship by providing borrowers with ownership and compensation for their value creation.
As shared on the About page, Zach and Cheng started Jia to create a system “where all parties, borrowers and lenders, are rewarded for the value that they provide.” Utilizing blockchain technology, Jia has developed an innovative fintech system, drawing inspiration from community finance groups where borrowers become owners.
We are inspired by Jia’s efforts to combine financial innovation with community development by helping investors invest in real-world businesses and earn competitive returns, while also helping small business owners build sustainable wealth. You can learn more by following the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and by visiting Jia.xyz.
1. https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/17/jia-a-blockchain-based-lender-of-small-businesses-in-emerging-markets-raises-4-3-million-seed/
ThisIsKay.xyz – Hostinger customer – (India)
The .xyz community is home to skilled musicians using .xyz to showcase their talent. Reggae and R&B singer Amindi uses Amindi.xyz to showcase her impressive projects and unique style. Tokyo-based band Za-Ningen.xyz shares their news, scheduled appearances, discography, and assorted media content. New York-based multi-talented creative Talia Goddess uses TaliaGoddess.xyz as an all-inclusive virtual hub. In this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, we’ll introduce you to an India-based hip hop artist who showcases his music on his own personal website: ThisIsKay.xyz.
ThisIsKay.xyz is the personal website of Karan “Kay” Panchal, a professional designer and independent Hip Hop/Rap Music artist. Kay’s dynamic and versatile sound spans across various sub-genres, including Conscious & Lyrical Rap, Alternative Hip Hop, Chill Hop, Jazz Rap, and Lo-Fi Hip Hop. Born and raised in India, Kay developed a love for hip hop thanks to “immense inspiration” from rapper, songwriter, and record producer Eminem1, and began creating his own music in 2011.
Throughout his journey in the music industry, Kay has collaborated with artists across the globe, initially sharing his creations on YouTube before transitioning to official releases on platforms like Spotify. Kay independently manages all stages of his music production process. This includes writing, recording, mixing, and mastering his own tracks, a characteristic that distinguishes him in the music industry. Kay’s skills as a graphic designer help him craft visual elements to complement his music.
Kay’s latest release, “Godspeed,” features the debut of rising artist Sanjana Shah. He presents a narrative of his personal experiences, dealing with hardships, growth, and learned lessons in the song. It strives to strike a balance between a relaxed and raw emotional tone, drawing on old-school Hip-Hop and Jazz elements. Kay concludes “Godspeed” with a personal tribute to his late grandmother.
Kay uses ThisIsKay.xyz to showcase his endeavors in an easy-to-navigate manner. For instance, on his Music page you can check out Kay’s additional music releases, including a rap remix of “My Money Don’t Jiggle Jiggle,” originally produced and remixed by Duke & Jones (W/ Louis Theroux) and “Soulful,” a single Kay released in April 2021, featuring a relaxed summer vibe and calm lyrics with a meaningful message. On Kay’s About page, you can learn more about his musical beginnings and find links to his social media profiles and his email address. He includes a Call to Action (CTA) to “Subscribe for updates” which takes you to a pop-up window to enter your name, email address, and city. By subscribing to Kay’s email list, he shares that you’ll be kept up to date about music releases, store updates, and more.
There is great benefit in a domain like ThisIsKay.xyz for your personal website. Website visitors have the opportunity to experience a sampling of Kay’s completed projects all in one place. The simplified navigation makes it easy for visitors to get a strong sense of Kay’s abilities and can help him attract collaboration proposals from other artists, producers, or businesses, leading to new creative and commercial opportunities. In addition, there are benefits to a branded email address like [email protected]. Using a custom email address helps to establish professionalism and trust. When you have an email address directly associated with your domain name, customers can use that email address to find your website and feel confident that they’re reaching out to the appropriate person.
We had a chance to speak with Kay about his decision to develop his online presence using .xyz. As he told us,
“I’ve built my websites on .xyz domains due to their initial purchase cost being low (compared to the others), but it not being the only reason, .xyz domains also provide a sense of variation and creativity, something that isn’t a norm, like some legacy TLDs or other country-specific domain extensions which feel very common, especially for artists such as myself.”
We are glad to have Kay in the musical .xyz community. You can learn more about Kay by following him on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, by visiting his freelance branding and product design website KaranPanchal.xyz, and by visiting ThisIsKay.xyz.
1. https://open.spotify.com/artist/575t2t04MLoxk11W3ZKB1Q
”At Icebreaker, we’re building a new model for privacy-centered personalized advertising, building on recent advances in zero-knowledge cryptography and self-sovereign data. As such, we wanted a top-level domain that conveys that we are operating at the frontiers of crypto, AI, privacy, and marketing. XYZ was an easy and natural choice.”
Dan Stone, Co-founder, Icebreaker.xyz
Discover a curated selection of available .xyz domains with our .xyz premiums, .xyz numbers, and CNOX search tools.
* Premium XYZ Registry domains refer to premium domains for extensions with standard and premium domains, and XYZ’s premium namespaces such as .Cars, .Car, .Auto, .Theatre, .Storage, .Security, and .Protection.***
** “BIN” (or High/Low) priced premium domain. Domains in this tier have a premium price for the first year, but renew at standard pricing. All other premium domains have annual premium renewal fees.
(not ranked)
| Rooster.xyz | Party.Monster** |
| E1.xyz** | Manhattan.Homes |
| Bimo.xyz** | DC.Skin |
| Dau.xyz | Self.Quest** |
| SR.xyz | Cat.College |
| Access.Storage | Zip.Rent |
| Sweet.Security | Odin.Game |
| Ideal.Auto | NI.Audio |
| Discover.Cars | MM.Flowers |
| 1.Car | Data.Hosting |
| Amin.xyz | Alba.Cars |
| AWP.xyz** | Commerce.Cars |
| MMZ.xyz | US.Car |
| IC.Homes** | TopBox.Storage |
| Mary.Homes | NameDrop.Storage |
| Clear.Skin | Dymon.Storage |
| Daily.Quest** | Zetta.Auto |
| Affordable.Rent | Edge.Auto |
| BR.Game | Lasso.Security |
| Speed.Monster** | Symmetry.Security |
(source: Namebio.com)
| Total dollar value: $56,560.00 |
| Average price: $2,459.13 |
| Low Price: $101 |
| High Price: $13,000 |
| Maximum SLD characters: 19 |
| 3L – 1 (4.35%) 4L – 2 (8.7%) |
(Ranked by volume)
(Price listed is MSRP)
(source: Namebio.com)
(source: Internal Data)
*** Starting March 2023, the top 10 Trending .xyz SLD Keywords are expanded to include 2-character keywords.
1. https://variety.com/2023/music/news/snoop-dogg-passport-nft-tour-collectible-1235638886/
2.https://pwn.mirror.xyz/_sIKCqQJ52O3AnUV1l2Z1uV-9GlioLTHSzVi1gWo7Y8
3. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230629222343/en/DeFi-protocol-AlloyX-Raises-2M-Pre-Seed-Round-Launches-Aggregation-Platform-for-530M-RWA-Loans-On-Chain
4. https://www.finsmes.com/2023/06/brilliant-labs-raises-us3-0m-in-seed-funding.html
5. https://blog.blowfish.xyz/blowfish-raises-11-8m-round-led-by-paradigm/
6. https://coinjournal.net/news/former-ftx-us-president-raises-5-million-seed-round-for-new-venture-architect/
7. https://newsdirect.com/news/mind-network-raises-2-5-million-in-seed-funding-to-transform-data-security-in-the-web3-ecosystem-426641524
8. https://blog.hook.xyz/announcing-our-fundraising/
9. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230621768901/en/Maverick-Protocol-Completes-9M-Strategic-Funding-Round-Led-by-Founders-Fund-to-Build-More-Efficient-DeFi-Infrastructure
10. https://twitter.com/tapioca_dao/status/1669812616024272902
11. https://www.londondaily.news/boomfi-secures-3-8m-seed-to-streamline-crypto-payments/
12. https://decrypt.co/143913/hyperplay-raises-12-million-accelerate-web3-game-launcher
13. https://taiko.mirror.xyz/THTEOFtqE6pjDre5_Tzn04S0mjr7vCoMt5Y-uozfNv8
14. https://mirror.xyz/spinamp.eth/nSkJ4KOxfw-3fr7PcjGpBt4aV1pX4_8XTYoFz3cHl9E
15. https://mpost.io/lens-protocol-raises-15m-in-seed-round-to-scale-its-web3-social-ecosystem/
16. https://www.forexlive.com/Education/metablaze-announces-4m-crypto-presale-sellout-gaming-partnerships-ai-metachip-nft-drop-20230626/
Frontdoor.xyz – Google Domains customer – (United Kingdom)
AI-powered solutions are developing their online homes on .xyz domains. Tech startup Spice.xyz is aimed at harnessing AI technology to make it easy to access and leverage web3 data. NFT platform Revel.xyz is aimed at providing users with a new tool for generating AI-powered animated avatars. Dashboard builder Sloped.xyz leverages AI to make chart building easier for non-technical team members. In this week’s #AIMonday, we’ll introduce you to a solution aimed at building an AI librarian to curate the internet: Frontdoor.xyz.
Frontdoor.xyz is the online home of Frontdoor, an innovative AI solution that aims to revolutionize knowledge management. Developed by London-based tech startup Frontdoor Labs, the AI bookmarking assistant is designed to provide an efficient and organized way to save, curate, and explore information from the internet. Frontdoor aims to automate the process of tagging and summarizing saved content, with a goal of ensuring that relevant knowledge resurfaces at the right moment. In June 2023, the company hosted a partnership event with web3 protocol Arweave focused on exploring the permaweb, a layer built on top of the Arweave’s global permanent hard drive. Participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas, collaborate, and innovate.1
One of the primary features of Frontdoor is its claim of being able to help users build a personalized library that organizes and summarizes itself. For instance, if you find yourself overwhelmed by newsletters in your inbox, overflowing Twitter bookmarks, or a multitude of browser tabs left open to read later, Frontdoor offers a streamlined solution. The advanced GPT-4 model powers Frontdoor’s AI system, which automatically tags and summarizes your saved content for effortless retrieval later on when you input it.
Frontdoor also incorporates community-powered curation. Users can tap into the collective wisdom of others by discovering what like-minded individuals are reading. This feature can enhance the personal discovery experience, helping users explore a wider range of knowledge. The AI solution also aims to make it easy to import saved content from other apps, for example: Twitter bookmarks. Frontdoor is designed to intelligently tag and makes these bookmarks searchable, which can eliminate the hassle of scrolling through an ever-growing list of saved tweets.
Currently available through invitation only, Frontdoor is free for early supporters. The waitlist is being gradually onboarded to maintain a high-quality network of curators. Those eager to join the Frontdoor community can reach out via email to request access. You can also sign up for the company’s Frontdoor Finds newsletter by submitting your email address. While there, you can read previous features, including How is generative AI being used to grow businesses?, a collection of AI-related business tips from Moritz Kremb, founder AI-focused newsletter “The Prompt Warrior.”
Co-founder Ash Prabaker brings experience in product, growth, and operations. Before joining Frontdoor, Ash played a key development role at Bloop, an AI-focused company known for its innovative coding platform. We had the opportunity to speak with Ash about the decision to build on .xyz. As he explained to us, “We chose to build on .xyz as it felt like the perfect home for us as a business that’s building at the intersection of AI and web3. It helped a lot of our users immediately build a level of trust in us. It was clear we were in good company as we saw .xyz was quickly becoming the de-facto handle for modern startups building at the forefront of the internet.”
Frontdoor presents an AI-powered solution for knowledge management, designed to streamline the process of curating and exploring information from the internet. The innovative solution is still in its early stages, and we look forward to seeing how this approach to knowledge management develops. You can learn more by following the tech startup on LinkedIn and Twitter @frontdoordotxyz, and by visiting Frontdoor.xyz.
1. https://partiful.com/e/DVXSxPJ7d6YkkPk2yChH
Storyverse.xyz – GoDaddy customer – (Japan)
Web3-focused developers are using .xyz domains to build innovative platforms that stand to disrupt industries. Forbes-featured artist Brandon Tory’s Formless.xyz leverages blockchain technology to change the way music and other digital content is valued and distributed. Venture fund CoopRecords.xyz strives to invest in artists and startup founders who are uniting web3 and music. Web3 video platform Shibuya.xyz aims to disrupt the Hollywood studio system of film distribution. In this week’s #BlockchainThursday, we’ll introduce you to a web3 platform that provides no-code interactive story game publishing tools and aims to empower communities to craft stories that enhance their brand’s value: Storyverse.xyz.
Storyverse.xyz is the online home of Storyverse, a web3 platform designed to help users create and share their own digital characters and games. While building a game, you have the freedom to design unique characters, set up engaging narratives, and develop interactive choices for other players. These games permit players to actively participate in the story by making decisions that shape the outcome, offering an immersive and personalized storytelling experience. The innovative platform is founded by Justin Waldron and Michael Carter, both of whom also founded game developer Playco, a mobile gaming startup that achieved unicorn status in September 2020 with a valuation “just north of $1 billion.”1 The Storyverse platform provides a space where Profile Picture (PFP) characters can be utilized in new ways. Profile Picture (PFP) characters are visual representations chosen by users to represent themselves online, often used as profile pictures on social media. They serve as a visual identity and a means of self-expression in online communities. The platform provides no-code interactive story game publishing tools, allowing communities to craft stories that enhance their brand’s value. Storyverse is not simply a story-building platform. It creates a creator-centric ecosystem that expands the utility of assets.
In Storyverse, “PLOTs” refer to unique digital areas that creators can buy to build their games and apps. Because there’s a limited number of these PLOTs, they become more sought-after among the community. Transactions and interactions on the platform are managed through the platform’s native currency, INK tokens. In the first week following its launch in February 2022, Storyverse attracted attention from creators around the globe and figures notable in the gaming and crypto space, such as Chain Runners2 and Carly Reilly.3
Interactive storytelling is the core of Storyverse, a function that is aptly utilized in Ape Stories, an interactive game featuring Bored Apes from the well-known Bored Ape Yacht Club. Members of the Bored Ape Yacht Club community, including Eric Golden, Zeneca, and TropoFarmer, participated in Ape Stories by contributing their PFP apes. This marked the first instance of a collection “Entering the Storyverse.” It was also the first opportunity for these owners to witness their apes in motion and interacting with others.4 As Tropofarmer, one of the Bored Ape owners, explained in the press, “I like how the Storyverse lets owners add utility to their PFPs. I can use the platform to leverage my assets in some really interesting ways, whether it’s making my own entertaining stories, or licensing a particular PFP to other creators who feel inspired by it.”5
In May 2022, Storyverse teamed up with Everyrealm, a web3-focused social gaming technology company. This alliance aims to help NFT communities by combining Storyverse’s easy-to-use story creation tools with Everyrealm’s expertise in metaverse development. The goal is to make it simpler for these communities to create fun, interactive story games in the metaverse. This partnership culminated in the Genesis Public Sale of PLOTs hosted by Storyverse, which sold out within seven minutes. Everyrealm bought 250 PLOTs, adding more virtual property to its large collection in the metaverse. The partnership between Storyverse and Everyrealm represents an evolution in the landscape of the global entertainment economy, providing more tools for creators to develop new content. As explained by founder Justin Waldron in the press, the platform’s capabilities include enabling creators to “create the next-gen Bart Simpson, Peppa Pig, or Cartman from their mobile phone.”6
We had the opportunity to speak with Kanto, Storyverse’s Marketing Director, about the platform’s choice to build on .xyz. As he told us, “We opted for the .xyz domain as it aligns with our commitment to creativity, inclusivity, and advanced technology. It’s concise, memorable, and globally acknowledged, mirroring our goal to reach a diverse audience. Its innovative reputation fits our web3 principles of decentralization and user-centricity. As such, .xyz was a natural choice, reflecting our aim to be at the forefront of the digital era alongside other web3 pioneers and innovators.”
As a distributed platform for user-generated interactive storytelling and game creation, Storyverse offers opportunities for creators to not only build but also monetize their applications. We are inspired by Storyverse’s commitment to empowering creators.
You can learn more by following Storyverse on Twitter @storyverse_xyz and LinkedIn, joining the Discord, and visiting Storyverse.xyz.
1. https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/21/playco-launch-funding/
2. https://twitter.com/chain_runners/status/1493398397880922117
3. https://twitter.com/carlypreilly/status/1582525556268335104
4. https://www.cryptopolitan.com/new-interactive-nft-platform-storyverse-welcomes-the-bored-apes-in-first-ever-community-driven-story/
5. https://www.cryptopolitan.com/new-interactive-nft-platform-storyverse-welcomes-the-bored-apes-in-first-ever-community-driven-story/
6. https://cryptobriefing.com/everyrealm-and-storyverse-partner-to-create-interactive-stories-for-nft-communities/
